Walnut scrubber



pril 29, 1924.

P. H. JoBsE WALNUT scRUBBER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed sept. 4. 1923 fVVE/Vroff fbx/0555 Patented pr. 29, 1924.

PETER H. JoBsE, or WILSONVILLE, OREGON.

WALNUT SCRUBBER.

Applicationmea september 4, 1923. serial N0.:.66o,8o1.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it hereby known that I, PETER 'I-I. n Jonsn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilsonville,in the county of Clackamas and State of Oregon,*have invented a new and useful Walnut Scrubber, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates more particularly to the scrubbing of walnuts when preparing l0 same for the market.

An object of my invention is the production of a machine which willthoroughly scrub walnuts, ilberts, etc., without cracking same.

A second Objectis the employment of a cocoa door mat as a scrubbing element.

A third element is the provision of asimple advancing means for moving the nuts forward through the machine.

A fourth object is the provision of ,a bridge breaking means which will prevent the nuts from forming a bridgelacrossjthe discharge yopening of the feed hopper.

A Vfifth object is the construction of the machine in a manner that can be `readily built, cleaned and repaired.

I accomplish these results in the manner set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of my device with'the upper scrubbing element removed. Figure 2 is a front elevation with the front wall cut away and also a portion of the scrubbing elements broken away in section. Figure 3 is a left hand end elevation of the machine with a portion of the upper part of the end wall broken away and a portion of the hopper broken away in section. Figure 4 is ak vertical section along the line 4 4 in Figure 2.

Similar numbers of reference refer to the same parts throughout the several views.

Referring in detail to the drawings, I

have built my device upon three sills or runners 10 over which is laid a decking 11 which is to form the bottom of the water container. Near each end of the deck 11 is erected a frame consisting of the uprights 12 and the horizontal members`13. Across the members 13 are-secured the-horizontal pieces L14 4,from whose .projecting ends are. supported acrossgarm 15Ywhich is similar to the members ,13. thevwalls 16, 17, 18 and 19 which are secured to the. deck 11 and on the inner sides of the members 13 and 14. The walls 16 to 19 and the deck l11 form i a water-tight compartment.

The upper ends ofthe walls 16 to 19 are cut olf a short distance below themembers to which they are secured/except a portion of the wall 16 which issomewhat higher than its member 14y immediately in front of the scrubbingsection of the machine.

A, removable box consisting of the sides 16A, 17A, 18A and, 19A is placed over the walls 17 ytok19. The end walls 18A and 19A are rounded at one end on a radiusfstruck from the axis of the lscrubbing cylinder.

Betweenthe walls1-6 and 17 I haveplaced a removable partition. 20 which is held in place by av guide21. The wall 420A rests on thewall y'2O yand is secured to the walls 16A and 17A.

Thekwall 1,8A is short and issef Vertical planking form curedto. the wall 17Aand to the hopper wall o .22 which fastens t0` the wall 20A.

A feed hopper is formed by the sloping bottomsf23 and 24 between the walls 17A,

y18A, 20A-and 22A which hopper dischargesr through' the opening 25 inthe wall 20A.

Aimain shaft 26l journals in the' bearings 27 vonthe members 13 and carries the scrubbingvcylinder which yisfbuilt up on a pair of anges 28 securedV tothe shaft 26 and having bolted to each flange a circular piece of wood 29 around which are fastened the strips 30. `Around 'the strips 13 are secured the cocoa mats 31 in the most convenient manner, preferably by wire bands.

Placed within the walls 16, 17, 19 and 2O is a concave table consisting of slats secured to the shaped horizontal members 33 supported by the legs 34. Mats `35 cover the slats 32 of the concave table. The upper portion of the side of the concave table adjacent to the wall-'16 may be secured to the wall 16A, if desired, although this and other minor details; may be varied to suit the convenience of the builder.

The sloping feed board 36 is secured to the legs 34 and guides the nuts between the mats 31 and 35. A mat 37 provided with backing strips 38 and a base strip 39 by means of which it is secured to the walls 19A and 2OA is held by the springs 40 toward the mats'3l. A spacer 4l consisting of a curved piece of wood is used under the backing strips 38 to accommodate various sizes of nuts and to regulate the pressure applied in the scrubbing action, and these spacers 41 are placed on the curved portion of the walls 19A and 20A. Over the opening 25 is placed a sliding gate 42 which passes through a slot in the wall 2OA and regulates the flow'of nuts out of the hopper.

Secured to the; shaft 26 is an arm 43 to which a bridge breaking sweep 44 is secured. This sweep can pass through the slot 45 in the floor 23 and moves the nuts in the hopper, thereby breakingvup any bridge that may be formed in front of the opening 25.

It will be observed that the nuts which pass through the opening 25 fall upon the sloping feed board 36 and pass between the mats 3l and 35. In order to move the nuts along the cylinder I have provided the sloping advancing boards 46 to 49 which latter finally ejects the nuts from the machine. A fresh water spray 50 of any desired type is placed over the revolving mat 31 in front of the member 49 togive thel nut a final rinsing, and also to renew the water 5l in the machine itself.

Power is supplied to the tightl and loose pulleys 52 and 53 on the shaft 44 which journals in the bearings 55 between which is placed asprocket 56 on the shaft 54. A chain 57 driven from the sprocket 56 drives the sprocket 58 on the shaft 26. j

The operation of my device is as follows: Nuts are placed inthe hopper and water in the container and. the scrubbing cylinder rotated in the direction indicated in Fig.`4. The water in the container should submerge the lower portion of the concave table and the scrubbing cylinder. The nuts are allowed to pass into the scrubber by adjusting the gate 42 and they will now follow the path indicated by the line N--N in Fig. 2, receiving the final rinsing before they emerge from the machine.

It will be understood that ordinarily in changing from the scrubbing of small nuts to large ones, it is preferable to remove the mats 35 from the concave table and to place a sufficient number of thicknesses of carpet, building paper, or the like, upon the slats 32 before replacing the mats 35, thereby maintaining the proper curvature for the varying sizes of nuts.

Attention is also directed to the wall 16A better illustrated in Fig. 4. This wall may be entirely omitted and the legs 34 extended all the way up to the member 39, since the Ato adjust the distance between the concave @out departing from the spirit of my invention. For instance--in using the machine on various size nuts it may be found desirable and the cylinder, which could be accom- Aplished by merely raising the table which supports the concave.

I am also aware that many forms of nutwashing machines have been constructed and it is therefore not my intention to cover washing machines broadly, but have directed my edorts toward the production of a scrubbing machine particularly adapted to the cleansing of nuts without breakage.

What I claim as new is:

l. A walnut scrubber having, in combination, a cylindrical yielding scrubber; a yielding concave table adjacent to said scrubber adapted to hold nuts against said scrubber; and means for causing said nuts to pass around said scrubber a predetermined number of times.

2. A Walnut scrubber having a rotatable cylinder covered with cocoa mats; a concave table also covered with cocoa mats around said cylinder and separated therefromyand means for advancing the nuts along the length of said cylinder in a manner that they must pass around said cylinder a given number of times before they are discharged.

3. A walnut scrubber having a rotatable y cave mat-lined table under said cylinder,

said table havng a sloping board along one side from which nuts may be fed between said cylinder and said table, a hopper for yfeeding nuts upon said sloping board, a plurality of sloping advance boards close to said cylinder and resting on said sloping U0 feed board.

4. A walnut scrubber having a rotatable brush-covered cylinder and a concave table under said cylinder, in combination with a sloping feed board secured to said table, a plurality of sloping advance boards over said feed board, a hopper arranged to feed nuts upon said feed board, and a springurged scrubbing element over one upper quarter of said cylinder, said element forming a continuation of said concave table. I

5. A walnut scrubber having, in combination, a cylindrical rotatable mat-covered scrubber, a mat-lined concave table under said cylinder, a spring-urged scrubbing element over one upper quarter of said cylinder, a sloping feed board along the edge of said table, a hopper for feeding nuts onto said feed boa-rd, a shaft supporting said scrubbing cylinder, an arm on said shaft l arranged to -sweep past the discharge of said hopper, and a Water container in which ther lower portion of said cylinder and table are submerged. 5 6. A Walnut scrubber consisting of f a Water containing tank, a concave cocoa mat covered table Within said tank, a mat covered cylinder rotatably mounted over said table, a hopper ada ted to feed nuts between said cylinder and ta le, means for advancing 10 n nuts along the cylinder, and spray means for rinsing rsaid nuts before they are discharged from said machine.

v vPETER H. J OBSE. 

